The orange shirts were twirling, the volume was swelling, the fans were standing, and in the midst of Madison Square Garden's happy mayhem, Carmelo Anthony was surveying and directing, with a calm certainty.
Dribbling 35 feet from the basket, he saw a charging Kevin Garnett and a freely roaming Kenyon Martin. The rest happened so quickly that it left the Boston Celtics dumbfounded. A bullet pass. A fingertips catch. A layup. And then bedlam.
That nearly too-high pass and the easy basket that followed provided the final, finishing touch Saturday as the Knicks grinded out an 85-78 victory in the emotional opener of this first-round playoff series.
"Terrible pass," Martin said, smiling.
"He bailed me out on that one," Anthony said later.
It was an imperfect end to an imperfect win, but one that resonated on many levels as the Knicks, hosting a Game 1 for the first time since 2001, took their first series lead in 12 years.
"It's a wonderful feeling," said Anthony, who scored 36 points and made all the key plays down the stretch. Game 2 is Tuesday night at the Garden.
The emotions were more raw for the Celtics, who opened the playoffs in the shadow of the Boston Marathon bombings and the manhunt that followed.
"I think emotionally, it could go either way," Coach Doc Rivers said before tip-off.
Every Celtics jersey was adorned with a patch reading, "Boston Stands as One." In an unusual gesture, Paul Pierce and Anthony addressed the crowd before the game, with Anthony conveying "our prayers and our condolences" and Pierce declaring, "Boston will rise and run again."
A small number of fans booed Pierce as he took the microphone, but they were quickly shushed and drowned out by a much larger contingent. Color guard units from the Boston and New York fire departments jointly presented the American flag for the national anthem. A brief chant of "U-S-A!" followed, which quickly gave way to "Let's go, Knicks!" as a playoff normalcy settled in.
Anthony was sometimes erratic, going 13 for 29 from the field against a relentless Boston defense, but he hit two jumpers to put the Knicks ahead for good in the fourth quarter, and added a steal and a fast-break layup to hold off the Celtics in the final minutes. J. R. Smith added 15 points, and Raymond Felton had 10.
The rest was done with defense, which has not exactly been the Knicks' calling card this season. They tied one franchise record by holding the Celtics to 25 points in the second half and broke another record by allowing only 8 points in the fourth quarter. The Celtics scored 2 points in the final 4 minutes 32 seconds, on a pair of free throws.
"We played probably our best defense of the year in that second half," said Jason Kidd, who had three of the Knicks' seven steals in the final quarter.
All told, Boston had 21 turnovers, leading to 20 points for the Knicks and underlining what could be a decisive factor in the series. The Celtics are playing without Rajon Rondo, their All-Star point guard, and, for that matter, without any point guards, making it difficult to find easy baskets. The strain showed. Avery Bradley and Jeff Green each had six turnovers, and Pierce had four.
Green led Boston with 26 points, but he scored only 6 after halftime as Anthony moved over to check him. Pierce finished with 21 points. The Celtics' bench went 0 for 7 from the field.
Still, neither team led by more than 7 points, and the Celtics were in striking distance until the final minute.
"We were in a great position to take over the game, to win the game," Green said. "Turnovers killed us. Offensive rebounds killed us."
Expectations for the Knicks have rarely been higher, a notion that was made abundantly clear in the home locker room, where every stall was decorated with two shiny gold decals. One was a depiction of the Larry O'Brien trophy; the other was a numeral 16 — the number of wins it takes to claim the title.
After a painful last few weeks of the regular season, the Knicks were close to whole, with Tyson Chandler back in the starting lineup and Martin there to spell him. Chandler, who missed the last six games because of a neck injury, struggled with his stamina, playing 21 minutes, none in the fourth quarter, and finishing with five rebounds and no points. He said his neck was fine, however.
So the Knicks turned to Martin for the critical minutes. Martin, who had missed games with ankle and knee injuries in recent weeks, regained his form immediately, finishing with 9 rebounds, 10 points and a clinching layup.
Green was guarding Anthony on the play, and Garnett came charging to create a double team as Martin approached to set a screen. Anthony waved for Martin to keep going, and Martin darted toward the lane, unchecked. He caught the ball behind Pierce and Bradley and easily laid it up.
"It was a great catch," Martin said, complimenting himself. "I was in the right position at the right time."
REBOUNDS
Pablo Prigioni's sprained right ankle was "coming along nicely," said Mike Woodson, who left open the possibility that Prigioni could return for Game 2. ... Chris Copeland started for Prigioni on Saturday but played only 13 minutes, going scoreless. ... Amar'e Stoudemire watched the game from the bench, a rarity since his March 11 knee surgery. He is not expected to play in the first round.
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